The Vermont Attorney General's office says the Department of Environmental Conservation of the Agency of Natural Resources is paying $12,000 in civil penalties and $6,000 for an environmental project to settle violations of state hazardous waste disposal rules.

An affiliate of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England will pay $30,000 to the state of Vermont to settle a claim by the attorney general's office that it violated the state's campaign finance laws in 2010.

The state of Vermont has settled two “cramming” lawsuits that will refund more than $900,000 to 12,500 Vermont consumers. Vermont’s Attorney General talks about the settlement and a multi-state effort to curb the third-party billing practice.

The Vermont attorney general's office will hold a public forum next week to evaluate police use of stun guns.

The forum — to be held next Monday in Montpelier — will include a panel made up of two lawmakers, the heads of the Vermont American Civil Liberties Union and Disability Rights Vermont and Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell. Members of the public will also be invited to provide comments.

Several presentations will be given on the current training and policies on the use of stun guns and the risk and benefits of using them.

The state Attorney General's office has sued a company called VerMints, saying it has mislabeled its tins of mints as Vermont products.

The suit was filed recently in Washington Superior Court. It says from 2006 to 2010, the company sold over 1.3 million tins prominently labeled "Vermont's All Natural Mints," or "Vermont's All Natural Pastilles." It says many tins also were marked "Product of the USA."

The attorney general's office says the products actually were manufactured at a plant in Canada, mostly out of ingredients that originated outside of Vermont.

One of the most-watched contests in Vermont this election season is the race for the state Attorney General. The state’s largest newspaper recently hosted a debate between the three candidates vying for the position.